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Marv -
I think your rules are dead on and track well with the military's experience and design. The military has done a huge amount of study and has eons of experience with cockpit design on fighters. I certainly would put the Lancairs in the fighter category. :-))
Every one I flew had the speedbrake switch on the throttle/s (left hand) and the mic (PTT) button was on the throttle. In most the regimes, the speedbrakes were an important tool, and one needed easy access. The yaw trim switch was usually located on the throttle quadrant where you could easily trim with the left hand.
The stick had a grip almost identical to the Infinity with the coolie hat (roll and pitch trim). The stick also had the trigger, nose wheel steering and bomb release button. The nosewheel steering was inop until the squat switch was depressed by the aircraft weight on the runway.
We have the PTT/mic button on the trigger switch, roll and pitch trim on the coolie hat and the roll steering/auto pilot quick disconnect button on the top button where the thumb can get to it easily. We also installed a relay and switch to keep only one stick electrically active. If I were to do it again, I would swap the PTT with the AP roll steering. Pushing and holding a button is far more correlated with everyone's experience handling radios.
IMHO, flaps, boost pump, starters - all belong in other places.
Arguably, the attached picture shows the best designed cockpit, ever, for a single engine, single seat, all-weather (radar) fighter-bomber.
Cheers,
John
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